Utah’s football opponents can be happy first-year Utes coach Kyle Whittingham isn’t greedy.
Whittingham was promoted from defensive coordinator after the 2004 Utes went 12-0, including a 35-7 pasting of Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl. When asked Tuesday what he wanted to accomplish in his first year as a head coach, Whittingham was in a sharing mood.
“We want to win the Mountain West Conference championship, or at least share the title,” Whittingham said. “We haven’t once talked about going undefeated.”
That’s good, because that’s no longer possible after Utah lost 23-20 in overtime last week at new conference member TCU. As the Utes (2-1, 0-1) prepare for their conference home opener Thursday against Air Force (2-1, 1-1), Whittingham’s goal of winning the MWC is alive.
“I don’t think there’s any way that anyone will go through the conference undefeated,” Whittingham said. “If we take care of business, we have a chance to win the title or get at least a piece of it.”
Whittingham wonders how the Utes will respond after having their 18-game winning streak snapped.
“An overtime loss makes it more difficult to put the game behind you,” he said. “When you lose by two or three touchdowns, you get out of town and move on. The more investment by the team, the more it hurts. Our players invest a lot into this program.”
Utes sophomore quarterback Brian Johnson invoked the 24-hour rule.
“We got that game out of our minds after a day,” Johnson said. “As a team, we have had a positive reaction this week.”
Whittingham said Johnson is similar as a dual-threat quarterback to former Utes star Alex Smith, who went to the San Francisco 49ers with the first pick of the NFL draft in April.
“Brian runs the option exceptionally well,” Whittingham said. “He’s a student of the game, like Alex. The big difference is experience. Brian still has a ways to go in his development.”
Whittingham knows firsthand about the ups and downs of football and expectations after a big season. He was the Utes’ defensive coordinator for 11 years, replacing Urban Meyer as head coach after Meyer left to coach Florida.
“It’s a double-edged sword,” Whittingham said. “Last year was a heck of a ride. The positive is that it took our program to where winning has become so ingrained. It was the best football season Utah ever has had. The negative is expectations.
“One year isn’t a legacy. Last season was a time where everything came together, the stars were aligned. But when you do that for four, five, six seasons, that’s a legacy.”
Whittingham, 45, said it’s a big advantage that he was able to stay in a program he knows well for his first head coaching job.
“I was part of what happened here, and that made for a smoother transition,” he said. “Knowing this league inside and out, with the exception of TCU, was a big advantage.”
He had braced himself for a letdown if he didn’t get the head coaching job when Meyer left for Florida.
“I already had come to terms with myself if it didn’t happen,” he said. “I was fine with it. I’m not an ego person. I love coaching for coaching sake.
“But I knew if I got the opportunity, I was going to run with it.”
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-820-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
